#eskaron

Thank you @unfocused-overwriter for tagging me. It’s been such a long time. Maybe this is what will get me back working on my wip after all this horrible university stuff I had to do. 

All excerpts are from my Eskaron Wip, which I started under the name Ruins of the West, but that’s not appropriate anymore and I don’t have a better title yet. :D

Bone

How to kill a king?

Many answers came to Rija’s head. A king was just another human being, a meat sack full of blood and bones, just as easy to run through like a pig. And there was nothing Rija wanted more than to rip this king open. 

Future

Eldan’s voice alarmingly rose in volume. “It is time to take responsibility. Time to think about an heir.“

“Maybe you should reconsider your choice of an heir,“ Arik mumbled quietly so his father couldn’t hear. He met Alys’ knowing glance.

“You are not getting younger, son. How many more years until you start thinking about your future?“

Bewildered he stared at his father. “I’m only 28.“

“When I was your age Alys was already born.“

Hint

Nothing changed since Rilan left for the shifter territory. Still he scanned the  walls if there was a hint that every single stone in the castle was built on a lie. The foundation of this kingdom, no, of all three kingdoms was blood. Why did it not spill out of the walls?

Justice

“You know“, Rilan sighed, “they are my family that I love, but when you always get pushed away it is hard to feel worried or even panicked.“

This confession fueled Sandar’s sense of justice. “It is unfair. You were born under the best conditions, you have the title and connections but are missing your family’s backing. I on the other hand only have the latter.“ Detached he observed a group of courtiers strolling around.  

Alright, I looked trough your tag on Eskaron and came up with this. I hope you like it.

So now that I have a break from uni I want to actually finish my worldbuilding in the next weeks. Which means that I’ll keep pestering you with my progress. 

Achievements of this evening: 

got another 100 years of history done

finally decided on an rough outline for my map

updated the map with migration processes (see picture below)

What comes next:

finishing the history

deciding on the borders for the kingdoms (and their names)

updating the map with actual topography

writing down linguistics in an orderly way

Thank you @converginglives for tagging me.

I'm still in the middle of writing down all the important historical events of my new world.

Stories about blood thirsty shifters circulated in those days, that wanted to kill all humans to claim all the land for themselves.

Thank you! Let’s get right into it~

9. What are the religions of the characters in your book? Are there certain gods/goddesses?

Oh my, I could talk for days about this particular topic. I try to tell you as compact as possible: So there are three main religions.                                    The elves believe in the Fiunnar, which are direct descendants of the gods who created the world. The Fiunnar created the elves and actually lived with them for a while. Two of them founded the courts of Eskaron so it’s only natural that the elves worship them.                                                                                               Next: the shifters. Their system is dual. There are two gods, Bethàh and Beshusá. They are giant hybrid creatures who are always at odds with each other. In one legendary fight their horns/antlers snagged and between them formed the world. The shifters believe that everything has two sides, but you should never just chose one, just like they never chose to stick to just one appearance, because then you would never reach balance.                                 At last the humans: They system is the closest to monotheistic (depends where in Symea you’re at). The idea behind it is that depending on the occasion the god, Miintho, changes faces so he can be a benevolent god, a punisher or whatever he needs to be. Some humans see him as the leader of a group of gods he commands.                                   

15. Is any part of your book inspired by fairytales?

Not knowingly. But fairytales have always been such a huge inspiration for me I would probably not even realise when something fairytale-like would slip into my story. There are probably aspects in the history that reminds of them faintly. Plus there are legends that are told like fairytales in their world. 

21. Are there any important animals in your book? Any pets? Do animals talk?

I was tagged by @leicawri​. Thanks!

Rules: Put the blurb for your WIP through Google Translate until it’s absolutely unrecognizable.

Took a small excerpt from the history writing it did the last week. 

Put it through: German (Original) -> English -> Irish -> French -> Russian -> Turkish -> Chinese -> Punjabi -> Finnish -> Icelandic -> English

Original: 

Jahrhundertelang lebten die Menschen und Wandler in Frieden miteinander. Der Westen, welcher in enger Zusammenarbeit mit den Schwänen gerne Neues wagte, entwickelte schließlich Gefährte, die sie über das Meer tragen konnten. Durch die Schifffahrt sollten die Beziehungen zum Norden gestärkt werden und einen florierenden Handel ermöglichen. Ein Sturm brachte eines schicksalhaften Tages eines der Schiffe ab vom Kurs, woraufhin es an der Küste Eskarons strandete. Die Völker näherten sich schnell an und bald schon begann einer reger Austausch zwischen den Ländern. Kinder wurden geboren, die Halbelfen, welche zuerst Symbol einer neuen Zeit waren, dann jedoch mehr und mehr an den Rande der Gesellschaft getrieben wurden. Kinder von Wandlern und Elfen konnten sie sich nicht wandeln und sie lebten weit länger als ihre Eltern vom Festland. Bei den Elfen waren sie jedoch kurzlebig.

English (mostly by Google Translate, I changed a bit for better understanding):

For centuries people and shifers lived in peace with each other. The West, who dared to do something new in close collaboration with the swans, eventually developed transportations that could carry them across the sea. Shipping should strengthen relations with the North and facilitate prosperous trade. A storm brought one of the ships off the course on a fateful day, causing it to strand on the coast of Eskaron. People approached quickly and soon began a lively exchange between the countries. Children were born, the half-elves, who were at first the symbol of a new era, but then were driven more and more to the margins of society. Children of converts and elves could not change and they lived far longer than their parents from the mainland. However, they were short-lived by elven standards. 

Translated Version (which is now apparently a Sci-Fi story):

For centuries, land and changes in peace live with each other and the West is trying to work closely with things to do something that can be transmitted from the sea with the satellite. Delivery should contribute to the north and promote success. At the same time, the ship was emotionally born in a storm and was a barrier to the Eicerons coast. The community is struggling hard and starting to move rapidly across the country, half of the children were born as the first sign of a new era, but they are gradually creating social constraints. Outside their parents' borders, the African aspect has far more than their borders. However, they have a short life in the basin.

@siarven​ and @kittensartsbooks​ tagged me. Thank you so much! I really want to do this.

Rules: Answer the questions and then tag as many writers as there are questions answered (or as many as you can) to spread the positivity! Even if these questions are not explicitly brought up in the novel, they are still good to keep in mind when writing.

I’ll do this for my Eskaron Wip (god, I need a better name...) which is still at a really really early stage. Most I do at the moment is figuring out the history of the world, but anyway. I’ll share what I can with you!

FIRST LOOK

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch).

A bunch of guys who don’t know each other end up relying on each other to face a colossal change that affects their whole world.  

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.)

I want it to be a series. Don’t know how many books yet. Let’s see what I can make out of it. 

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic?

Mountains. Castles. Deep Forests. Crystals. Swords.

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

Obviously Lord of the Rings. But also Holly Black’s writing which was always a big inspiration to me regarding the fairy world. Also fairytales and greek/roman and norse mythology. 

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel.

MAIN CHARACTER

6. Who is your protagonist?

If only I knew... I can give a a few character ideas I had yet. Because all characters I have yet are historical figures that don’t really act in the main story (cause they already dead).

a) Queen who killed her husband to rule over the kingdom instead and has to fight against the misogynistic laws of mankind. 

b) A royal shapeshifter whose shifter mother was forced to marry a human prince. He doesn’t know which race he owes his loyalty. 

c) Young girl who figured out that she is a witch and got chased out of her village. Now she has to find The Coven. 

d) Elf who was switched at birth with a human prince. It’s time to return to the elf kingdom now, leaving the human kingdom in a mess.

Aaaaand as an extra (because I can’t really answer any of the following questions) historical characters who are still pretty important in the present. 

Tysia and Doam: Belong to the direct descendants of the sparks (who literally created the entire world) and are some kind of gods to the elves because they created them. Tysia and Doam are responsible for the fact that sun and moon exist and also founded the two courts that the land of elves is split into. 

Aelin and Rowá: Human girl and shapeshifter wolf who made the first step for their races to trust each other again (and a few hundred years later this asshole comes along and destroys everything again). Their children married each other. 

7. Who is their closest ally?

//

8. Who is their enemy?

I actually have an idea for the antagonist, but I want to keep it a secret~

9. What do they want more than anything?

//

10. Why can’t they have it?

//

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

//

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description)

(Sorry, I was too lazy to make a proper scan. I’ll do that when the aquarelle is finished.)

Concept art of Tysia and Doam and some lazy doodling of the spark descendants.

PLOT POINTS

13. What is the internal conflict?

//

14. What is the external conflict?

//

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?  

Die, I guess. //

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

I actually already know this, but I won’t reveal it yet. But I’m already excited because of it. :D

17. Do you know how it ends?  

I don’t even know how it starts...

BITS AND BOBS

18. What is the theme?  

Balance. Especially regarding to power. Which power lies inside the powerless (or those who think are powerless) and what can’t the mighty ones do? 

19. What is a recurring symbol?  

//

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!)

It all started with the idea of an island where the elves live (called Eskaron) and now I also have a giant (still unnamed) continent with four mighty human kingdoms and a bunch of shapeshifters and witches.

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already?

Oh yeah, definitely. I managed to re-use the very first concept (which was for a short story) as a sub plot. It involves a dragon and a young girl that coincidentally stumbles into his halls.

 22. What excited you about this story?  

It’s been already such a long journey. My biggest desire was always to write a great fantasy story with elves and I want to fulfil this wish to me now. 

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!  

First comes worldbuilding. A lot. I don’t feel save navigating in my world, when there are still things unset. 

Then I note down the major plot points that I want to happen and make up everything in between (or almost everything). I want the story to develop naturally so I don’t create a strict plan anymore.

Then the writing itself... When I have a lot of ideas I make a sloppy pre-draft first. Means, I just write down major plot points and rough dialogues. The re-writing of that is the actual first draft. And this draft I give a first edit when I finished a chapter. So it’s at least readable. 

Then, when the story is finished I give it a second edit. Which almost never happens. 

Thanks to all who actually read all that, because it’s not a lot I could tell you, since I still have to work a lot on it. Bit this actually helped me to figure out a few things. Super hyped again! I can come up with the rest! It’s gonna be great!